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Enlarge ImageRequest to buy this photoGerald Herbert | Associated PressTransocean owned the drilling rig that sank after an explosion killed 11 workers and spawned the massive 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

WASHINGTON — Transocean, the offshore oil and gas drilling company, has agreed to a $1.4 billion
settlement with the Justice Department to resolve civil and criminal claims against the company for
its role in the April 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Transocean owned the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig leased by BP that exploded and sank after
the Macondo well blew out in the gulf, killing 11 workers and spewing nearly 5 million barrels of
oil into the sea.

In a statement, Transocean said that, as part of the settlement, a “subsidiary has agreed to
plead guilty to one misdemeanor violation of the Clean Water Act for negligent discharge of oil
into the Gulf of Mexico and pay $1.4 billion in fines, recoveries and penalties, excluding
interest.”

The settlement would lead to the conclusion of the Justice Department’s criminal investigation
against Transocean and resolution of civil claims against it. The Justice Department did not
immediately comment.

Along with BP, Transocean was criticized by independent panels that reviewed the spill for its
role in a deep-water drilling project that was marked by lax safety, poor communication and ad hoc
decision-making.

In November, federal prosecutors announced that two BP supervisors had been charged with
manslaughter and that the company would pay a $4 billion criminal fine, the largest in U.S.
history.

Not only did the BP supervisors on board the rig the night of the explosion fail to take steps
to prevent the blowout when they realized they were losing control of the deep-sea well, but
company executive David I. Rainey later lied to Congress about the size and severity of the spill,
prosecutors said.

The explosion on the night of April 20 unleashed a gush of oil from broken equipment on the
seabed that continued for nearly three months.